Annabeth
To a six year old girl, the worst thing that could happen would be to be separated from her parents, not me. I take off running from my house, still hearing my dad and step mom shouting at me. I cried, for hours before I left. Now I'm sprinting through the streets like a criminal. I turn the corner into an alley, panting now and wobbling on my six year old legs.
There's already someone there. I freeze at the sight of the well dressed man, leaning against the grimy brick wall of the tattoo shop. His suit is exquisitely made and pristinely pressed. He has windswept light brown hair and a bright white smile.
I back away nervously, my instincts screaming at me to run, shout, and get out of there fast; but I stand there silently.
"Hi Annabeth" He smiles nicely, reminding me a little of my kindergarten teacher. My instincts flare when I realize I had never met him before. I shiver and take a step back.
"How-how do you know my name?" I ask, stuttering slightly.
"Your mother told me" He says nonchalantly, like an old family friend. I step back farther as he edges closer to me.
"My mom's gone," I say, my voice warbling. He frowns sympathetically.
"I know; I'm sorry. She was an amazing person." He crouches down as he speaks, looking me in the eye. I remember noticing that he had brown eyes and a handsome face. "I'll tell you more about her, if you want." I nod frantically, hungry to hear more about my mysterious mother. "I can even show you where I met her. I can drive you there; all you have to do is just get in the car with me." Even at six, I wasn't stupid.
"NO!" I scream and scramble backwards. He tries to grab me. "Leave me alone!" I screech and take off running. My sneakers squeak on the pavement as I round a corner, I can just barely hear someone's footsteps behind me. I speed up, scared out of my mind.
Out of nowhere an arm snags me and yanks me into a doorway. I hear the door slam behind me, as I'm dragged into a hallway of an apartment building.
"Are you okay?" Someone asks, I squirm and wiggle away from them so I can see. My first reaction is to feel extremely short. They're both taller than me, looming over me in fact. The person who spoke is closer to me. He's an athletic boy, with overgrown blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He kneels down at my level, while still giving me space. Let me say this one more time, I'm six. Looking me in my eyes= instantaneous crush.
"What's your name?" He asks me and brushes my tangled hair out of my face.
"Annabeth," I tell him; raising my chin proudly. He smiles.
"Hi, Annabeth, I'm Luke and this Thalia. I promise we're not going to hurt you, okay?" He says, gesturing over his shoulder to a girl, a year or two older than me. She's has dark, short black hair and sharp, regal features. Her clothes are dark, almost blending into the shadows of the crummy apartment building.
"I want you to think carefully now Annabeth, there was a man chasing you. What did he look like?" Luke asks. I swallow and shake my head, not wanting to think about the scary man. "I need you to tell me, after that I can take you home." My mind jumps to how the man in a suit had tried to trick me into getting in his car. Luke's offer isn't like that, there's no sense of danger, only safety.
"Okay, he was tall, blond, wearing a suit and a watch," I tick off, remembering more and more every time I think about it. Luke and Thalia exchange a glance before looking back at me.
"Do you know your address, Annabeth?" Thalia asks, speaking up for the first time. She seems so much older than me but she can't be.
"33 Elwood Drive," I rattle off, like my dad had taught me to. Luke smiles.
"Okay let's take you home"
…
I lurch up as my alarm goes off and rub my eyes. What the hell was that about? I think nauseously. I haven't had that dream since I was eight; it had been a recurring nightmare for a while. I don't think I've ever dreamt the part about Luke and Thalia before though; usually I wake up by the time I get to the mysterious man in the suit grabbing at me.
There was something odd about that, something that I had only just now realized: neither Luke nor Thalia seemed surprised. How did they know I was coming? I shake it off, as just a sleep deprived, crazy, irrelevant suspicion. I was never one for unfounded suspicions. I groan as I look at the clock, 6:00: too early to get up, with waking up the twins; too late to go back to sleep.
Luckily, before I can settle in for a few minutes of staring up into blank nothingness, my cell phone goes off. I snatch it up, knowing there's only one person it could be from. Luke's picture grins up at me from the screen. I allow myself a tiny sigh before answering it.
"Hey," I whisper, trying my hardest to be quiet.
"Hey, sorry, did I wake you?" He asks, like he hadn't even thought about it. I bite my lip to suppress a smile.
"No, of course not… I've been up for a while." I admit.
"Me too, it's just… I had a dream about Thalia, and I'm worried about her." He sighs.
"I know, I am too, but if she wanted our help she would've taken us with her." I remind him, even though it hurts the both of us.
"That's exactly what's bothering me!" He groans, forgetting to keep his voice down. "She's never taken off without us; she knows how stupid that is, and I can't imagine her not telling us, even if she didn't want us coming."
"I know," I shake my head empathetically. "But she's been distant for a while… maybe she just had to do this alone." Luke scoffs.
"I can't see it, not after everything we've been through. What if… What if she was taken, Annabeth?" He suggests; his voice timid, like a child. At his words the bone crushing fear seizes me again. I shake my head, trying to tell myself I'm being delusional, but I know it's a logical theory. "Think about it Annabeth, with her record, no one would even consider it as a possibility. The only people who have any reason to suspect it are us, and no one would listen to two run-away prone teenagers."
"I don't know Luke, I guess we'll just have to wait and see." I sigh, my head starting to hurt from all the painful possibilities. I hear him sigh on the other side of the line.
"You're right, I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but I'm going to look into it okay?" He asks, I can tell he's not asking for my permission.
"Okay, I'll help you; just… let's not leap to any conclusions, okay?" I ask, not really meaning it as a suggestion. I can almost sense Luke smiling.
"Okay, do you need a ride to school?" He offers, thankfully changing the subject.
"Sure." I smile, grateful that I don't have to walk, and thrilled to spend more time with him.
"K, Annie-girl, see you at seven: thirty," He teases me with that irksome nickname he'd come up with when I was seven. It still bothers me.
"Bye Luke," I sigh and hang up. I can't shake the feeling that something is about to go horribly wrong.